Tuesday, December 16, 2008

The Music of the Great Depresion For this Great Deflation and The Oldest Version of "The House of the Rising Sun"


Photo of the Folklorist and Musicologist Alan Lomex. Originally from the Lomax Collection from Library of Congress, cropped and slightly finished by me.

This image is available from the United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs Division under the digital ID ppmsc.00433.
Public domain This file is in the public domain, because there are no known restrictions on the Lomax Collection.

"The House of the Rising Sun" has a big history behind, is part of the patrimony of United States, nobody knows for sure who wrote and composed this song, it is a folk song whose origins are dated back in the 18 century. Perhaps, in one point in time, it was also known by the the name "Rising Sun Blues". It just happens that a British band, "the Animals" popularized this beautiful song back in 1964.


This song most Likely was first recorded by the "Smokey Mountain" Artists Doc Watson & Clarence "Tom" Ashley, circa 1933. We are told that he was able to learned this song from his grandfather, many biographies of the late Alger "Texas" Alexander (this one ►here◄)point to the fact that he could have been the first singer who recorded the song, as early as 1928, but there is nothing conclusive about it. The song was curated by American Musicologist Alan Lomax who preserved for the Library of Congress's Archive of American Folk Song. Lomax was remarkable not only because his theories in Cantometrics, Choreometrics, and Parlametrics, but also because he went to different place throughout the world looking for songs, thus he recorded folk music for the posterity with amazin quality. I believe, the National Public Radio o NPR made a documentary about his recordings, as I heard, in that radio show, that some of his music was recorded in Spain, especially he was able to save for us genuine treasures in the form of very old folk Galicia's songs. Hey, thanks Alan for you incredible and unique Collection.



Doc Watson & Clarence "Tom" Ashley




A New Orleans of the song in the voice of such great American Folk singer Woody Guthrie




The Lovely LeadBelly's Version of the Song




Perhaps the Best Version, A Great American Rock Version, with the Great Vocalist of "Frijid Pink" Band



The Beatle's Version

A Version in the Special Voice of Odetta


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